Neil’s Diary – SA home season: Week 11

Super Sport – To see Faf du Plessis and his wife, Imari, travelling back to Cape Town with their baby girl was to see a man at ease with himself and life.

Summary

All the ‘noise’ with Warner, De Kock, Rabada and Steve Smith is gone from the captain’s mind when Amelie is picking pieces out of an SAA lounge sandwich following an hour’s delay in departure.

Smith was asked after the game whether Rabada’s ‘send-offs’ were frustrating for batsmen.

The Australian captain said he could empathise with the job Du Plessis has in keeping control of Rabada – he has a similar task with his own fast bowlers.

Smith became a little defensive when asked about the possibility that teams might ‘target’ members of the opposition who were close to suspension – to try and goad them into a further indiscretion which might tip them over the suspension edge.

We all need to hope that “aggressive cricket” is restricted to “positive and assertive body language” as Du Plessis says he prefers, rather than foul language as we have seen and heard in the first two tests.